Dwindling Power, Dipping Form: Is The PV Sindhu Era Nearing Its End?

PV Sindhu - the two-time Olympic medallist and five-time World Championships podium finisher - hit a new low at the 2025 Sudirman Cup in Xiamen, China. She finished the tournament without a win, unable to inspire a struggling Indian team that bowed out in the group stage. For a player once synonymous with big-match brilliance, the silence of her racquet this time was deafening.

India’s performance at the World Mixed Team Championships has never been stellar, with quarter-final finishes in 2011 and 2017 being their best. But for Sindhu, the face of Indian badminton for over a decade, there are now more questions than answers.

Sindhu, the most experienced and most successful Indian shuttler with all her exploits on the international circuit, was expected to lead India from the front. But when she needed to deliver, she faltered badly.

The player who was once known for her high-intensity power game, with jump smashes rattling her opponents, is now looking out of sorts - always in a hurry to finish the rally. The signs of fatigue were visible.

Losing From Edge of Win

In the match against Denmark, Sindhu went down to Line Kjaersfeldt - an opponent who had never beaten her in their five previous meetings - in straight games. It was a classic so near yet so far case for Sindhu, resulting in one of the most shocking defeats of her career. She dominated both games - leading 20-16 in the first and 19-12 in the second. But to the shock of her teammates and millions of Indian fans, her defence broke down, and Kjaersfeldt staged a comeback by winning the first game 22-20. In the second, the Danish shuttler won eight points in a row to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

It was a clear case of a confidence crisis. She began to wither. The Sindhu of pre-2022 - when she last won a major BWF World Tour title at the Singapore Open - would have easily fended off any comeback efforts by her opponents with her trademark aggression. But now, her finishing skills seem blunt. Kjaersfeldt stuck to the basics and outplayed a hesitant, uncertain Sindhu.

In India’s second group match, the young and promising mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto gave the team a flying start. All eyes were then on Sindhu to extend the lead against World No. 11 Putri Kusuma Wardani. But instead, she went down tamely 12-21, 13-21. The loss was yet another reminder that not only is she out of form, but she is also struggling to adapt amid a carousel of coaching changes, with her current coach being the legendary Indonesian Irwansyah Adi Pratama.

As players age, they naturally slow down and begin relying more on skill and tactical nuance to outwit opponents. But at 29, Sindhu has yet to show signs of such evolution. In contrast, Carolina Marin - now past 30 and no stranger to career-threatening injuries - has reinvented her game, most recently reaching the Paris Olympics semifinals, winning All England Open and securing silver medals at both the World Championships and World Tour Finals.

No coaches - be Indian or foreign - have managed to help Sindhu adapt to her diminishing power game. Her trademark jump smashes, fierce retrieval of flat strokes, wristy flicks, delicate drops, and the ability to drive the shuttle with precision are now conspicuously absent. The aggressive bursts of speed that once allowed her to control both the front and backcourt have simply disappeared from her game.

Fortunes have dried up. On the World Tour circuit, where Sindhu was once a force to reckon with, she now struggles to go beyond the first or second round.

At present, her game appears driven by a rushed intent to wrap up rallies, a stark contrast to her earlier approach of patiently capitalising on opponents' errors. This shift has not escaped the eyes of top players. Moreover, her smashes, once a lethal weapon, now lack precision, often going wide or out.

Needless to say, Sindhu - bogged down by injuries and frequently hampered by niggles, strains, knee injuries and ligament issues since the 2022 Commonwealth Games - is no longer close to the top tier of international badminton, now led by the formidable An Se Young of South Korea. Even at her peak, Sindhu struggled to overcome Young - who has since evolved into an almost invincible force on the circuit, winning Olympic and World Championships golds.

Injuries forced her to miss most of 2024, and for the first time in her career, her Olympic campaign ended in disappointment. She now seems a step too slow to keep up with the likes of Young, Akane Yamaguchi, Wang Zhi Yi, Chen Yufei, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, and Han Yue - players she once dominated, but who have since risen to the top while Sindhu has slipped into the shadows.

It is painful to watch the country’s greatest shuttler - one of the fiercest competitors the sport has seen - endure such a steep fall. The generation she belonged to, with icons like Carolina Marin and Tai Tzu Ying, is well past its prime.

Sindhu has been an emblem of resilience, with monumental achievements - especially being the only Indian shuttler to reach an Olympic final. However, the true measure of her legacy will not be defined solely by past victories, but by how she rises from this distressing chapter of her storied career.

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